Two new uncrewed aircraft are on display at Airbus’ corner of the ILA Berlin Air Show in Germany this week.
Airbus earlier this week said its booth at the air show would introduce the U145—an autonomous, uncrewed variant of its H145 helicopter. Joining the full-scale U145 mockup at ILA Berlin is a 1:1 scale model of the manufacturer’s U760 Ravenstorm, revealed Tuesday as the “next evolution” in its family of uncrewed collaborative combat aircraft (UCCA).
Both designs will be capable of teaming with crewed aircraft, similar to the collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) under evaluation by several branches of the U.S. military. The Air Force’s two leading CCA candidates—General Atomics’ YFQ-42A Dark Merlin and Anduril’s YFQ-44A Fury—are undergoing early flight testing.
Airbus in a news release said it plans to begin U145 test flights with an onboard safety pilot this year, with entry into service in the early 2030s. It said the Ravenstorm too will be available in the 2030s.
“Our portfolio ranges from rapid-response drone interceptors and various tactical drones, autonomous cargo helicopters to uncrewed fighter aircraft UCCAs operating co-operatively with crewed fighter jets,” said Mike Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space.
Airbus is also displaying smaller uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) such as the U010 Aliaca and U030 Flexrotor, respectively designed for reconnaissance and long-endurance missions. The U050 Capa-X is also in the manufacturer’s light tactical drone family but has more than double the payload of the Aliaca or Flexrotor.
Airbus’ U680 Bird of Prey, a drone interceptor platform that completed its first flight in March, is on display as well, as is the company’s U950 Eurodrone—a remotely piloted, Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance (MALE) platform scheduled for a debut flight in 2029.
H145 Goes Autonomous
The more than 1,800 H145s in service have logged over 8.5 million flight hours, per Airbus. It said the helicopter’s uncrewed complement will be a “mission-agnostic” platform for civil and military applications.
The U145’s main use case will be transporting more than 8,000 pounds of cargo. It has the same useful load as the standard helicopter but lacks a physical cockpit, making room for additional volume. Features such as a nose door with a foldable loading table are designed for bulky cargo.
However, Airbus said the uncrewed variant could also respond to fires or natural disasters, perform armed scouting or surveillance, intercept enemy drones, or team with crewed aircraft. It could even serve as the “drone mothership” for missile launches. The manufacturer said it is working with European missile developer MDBA toward that application, and the concept featured in its news release sports a military-style camouflage livery.
“To develop the U145 and its capabilities as a multi-mission UAS, we will be teaming up with leading autonomous mission partners to further expand the UAS ecosystem in Europe,” said Mattieu Louvot, CEO of Airbus Helicopters.
The company’s rotorcraft unit is also developing the VSR700 uncrewed reconnaissance helicopter, derived from the Guimbal Cabri G2. Its defense and space business is working with L3Harris and Shield AI to automate the Lakota UH-72B for the U.S. Marine Corps, which has designated it the MQ-72C.
Airbus’ Ravenstorm Teams Up
Crewed-uncrewed teaming is just one application for the U145, but it is the main feature of Airbus’ newly unveiled U760 Ravenstorm.
The manufacturer described the U760 as a “higher-weight-class” version of the fixed-wing UCCA system it is developing around Kratos’ Valkyrie aircraft, designed to add air-to-ground capabilities for the Eurofighter. Airbus expects to deliver that system—which it designated the U740 Valkyrie on Tuesday—to the German Air Force by 2029. The aircraft is powered by the company’s Multiplatform Autonomous Reconfigurable and Secure (MARS) system.
Airbus said the Ravenstorm by contrast is designed for not just air-to-ground strikes but also air-to-air missile launches and electronic warfare. General Atomics’ Dark Merlin and Anduril’s Fury have similar mission profiles.
Airbus said Wednesday that its MARS system will facilitate a demonstration of “collaborative surveillance and autonomous operations” using uncrewed aircraft from Primoco, which will be live streamed from ILA Berlin on Thursday.